


Test Drive

by starlightsuga (bedroomdemos)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Coping, Feelings Realization, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, i'm the one that needed the coping, keith's face is also important, wrote this after watching s6e5 and before s6e6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-12 06:39:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19126627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bedroomdemos/pseuds/starlightsuga
Summary: Keith has trouble getting a good night's sleep these days.





	Test Drive

**Author's Note:**

> where do i even begin 
> 
> i've been bingeing voltron and i got to keith and shiro's battle and keith's scar and i was a sobbing mess at 3am (literally... 7 hours ago) so i wrote this in an attempt to calm myself down and! it worked! but now i've also finished watching season 6 and everything hurts and i'm scared about 7 and 8 (update post 7 and 8: yeah that hurt and i am sad)   
>  
> 
> the title has nothing to do with anything i just needed a place holder as i was writing  
> (maybe it can mean something like: a test drive on feelings and feeling things and experiencing those feelings for potentially the first time) (it's all very subtle though)

A knock on his door sends Keith out of sleep, onto his feet, and into fighting stance in a heartbeat. He doesn’t move or breathe until the doors slide open, revealing Lance in lounge pants and a plain t-shirt. 

He looks at Keith’s stance, silent, and blinks a few times. “You sure know how to be a good host, don’t you?” 

For some reason it still takes Keith a few moments to get out of fighting stance—he stands upright, draws his arms back, looks down at his shaking, clenched fists... He doesn’t even realize when Lance is in front of him and prying his fingers open. He looks up at Lance, watching his expression as he works his way through taut fingers. When his hands are back in a relaxed position, Lance doesn’t take his hands away. Keith’s skin tickles with warmth wherever he touches. Instead of replying to the joke, he says, “Why are you here?” 

It seems Lance only notices then that he’s still holding Keith’s hands. He drops them and scratches the back of his own neck with one hand. “Couldn’t sleep, wanted a snack, heard some weird noises coming from your room. I didn’t want to, uh, _impede_ or anything... But you didn’t sound like yourself. So I knocked. The doors open and it looks like you’re ready to take me down.”

Keith looks down at his hands again. “That wasn’t intentional.” 

“I didn’t think it was.” 

A moment of silence falls between them. It had only been a week since Keith had to fight Shiro, and since their return the air has been stiff around the ship. Keith hasn’t really talked to anyone—he’s aware of this and wanted to keep it that way for the time being, at least—and Shiro has been in a coma since Allura and the others found the two of them, floating in space on their last bit of oxygen.

Keith sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “All right. Well. I’m fine, if that helps. You can go back to your room now.” 

Lance nods, but he doesn’t turn away. His arms are crossed over his chest. “You know... Differences aside, I’m still here to talk if you need it. Even if I can’t provide much in return, I’m a good listener.” He coughs. “Or, uh—I’m a good listener when I want to be, but I want to be one for you.” 

“Thanks.” The word slides out of his mouth so easily, but Keith _is_ taken aback by his words. He looks at Lance’s face, but Lance is looking at a spot on the floor, biting on the inside of this lower lip.

He still doesn’t move, but Keith doesn’t really want him to. Keith inhales. “I guess I’m just still worried about Shiro. There isn’t much else. It’s hard to focus when I’m worried about the possibility of him never waking up.” 

“He’ll wake up,” Lance reassures him. “He’s been twitching here and there so it’s not like he’s a vegetable—it’ll just be on his own time. He’ll come back to us.”

“I guess you’re right.” Lance still doesn’t look Keith in the eye. He has an urge to do something— _anything_ —about the space between them, but he can’t bring himself to move. The ship hums with Altean energy around them. 

Finally, Lance breaks the silence, but his voice is much quieter than it has been. “Did it hurt?” 

Keith blinks. One hand immediately reaches for the unmarked skin around it on his right cheek. “Probably. I didn’t really notice it with everything else going on.” He pauses. “A scar’s a scar, right? It’ll probably hurt a lot more in the future when I have to look back on it.” 

Without any warning, Lance cups the left side of Keith’s face, clearly careful about touching near the scar. It _is_ still sensitive, but Keith isn’t lying about it not hurting—much.

When Lance’s hand lines itself with his jaw, Keith closes his eyes and feels his neck almost go slack, exposing his injured cheek to Lance’s gaze. He’s the last person Keith thought would ever treat him like something that might break. Has anyone ever given him such a gentle touch?

When Keith opens his eyes, Lance’s face is inches away from his; while Lance looks at the scar tissue, Keith is focused on Lance and his curious expression, the squint in his eyes, the fingertips on the edge of his jaw. He spent two years with Krolia in order to reach past the quantum plane. He’s aged two years, making him a year older than Lance, and a little bit taller, but it doesn’t change how Keith feels like a child that wants to be left alone and kept company at the same time. “Lance—“ 

“Don’t worry,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper. “Just come to my room if you need me. I’m not going anywhere.” 

No one is allowed to make such a big promise when the universe is at stake, but Keith takes his words into his palm and latches onto them with everything he can. 

Lance pulls back and turns away. He crosses his arms over his chest again and turns around. “You know where to find me, yeah?” 

“Ah...yeah.” He watches as the bedroom door slides open and Lance steps through. The door closes. Keith doesn’t notice he’s been holding his breath until he’s alone again. 

It doesn’t take long for him to open the door again and catch up to him. “Lance.” 

Lance turns around. “What’s up?” 

“Can I—“ Keith presses his lips together. He looks away again. “Can you stay with me tonight? I’m... Maybe I’ll be able to sleep peacefully with someone by my side. If—I mean, only if you want.” 

This time, the silence is comfortable. “Your room or mine?” 

“Yours,” Keith says without hesitation. “Let’s go to yours.”

**Author's Note:**

>  _sobbing_ / thank you for your time


End file.
